


A New Compadre

by Ali3ghouse



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)
Genre: Canon Related, Canon Relationships, Canon-Typical Violence, During Canon, I want to live in this world right now, Just Another Idiot Running Around As Well, Multi, No Major Events Changed, Non-Canon Relationship, Original Character(s), Self-Insert, So here we are, business as usual, i think
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-13 22:55:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29409426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ali3ghouse/pseuds/Ali3ghouse
Summary: It's not just Buffy who can bring new people into the Scoobies - everybody's favourite librarian has a life too. So when he's intrigued by someone who serves coffee at the diner he stops in after work, it isn't long until she finds herself in an unexpected and, frankly, rather ridiculous world. But maybe she has more of a story to tell than the gang realise at first?A selfish self-insert because I am a fool who should not be uploading this jank.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 6





	1. An Introduction of Sorts

**Author's Note:**

> Hello. It's me, your friendly I-watch-a-few-YouTube-videos-and-I'm-immediately-obsessed fandom nerd. 
> 
> I've literally just come to watch Buffy over the last week and a bit, handily when lots of shit is going around about the creator (who has been involved in multiple things I love, joy) but enough about that as he's an arsehole.  
> If anything I'm now more about the fluff and the fic and so many people have shared how this show, and others like Agents of SHIELD are ours now, so there. 
> 
> Anyway, here's me falling for this world. It's set starting in Season One and we'll see how fast I watch the series as to when other things come into play, haha.

The librarian looked curiously over the top of his glasses at the young woman in front of him, who tended to the bar in this diner he frequented so often. He watched, the idea sticking in his throat a little, as they tended to the requests of the customers with kindness and candour. Giles came to this bar multiple times a week, during lunch breaks or after his shift at the school where he could, to be in the noise of others and feel connected without the need to interact with anyone. He could read in peace, drink coffee and have some semblance of humanity before heading back to his quiet home, alone. And he must admit, the atmosphere of the diner was always a warm, safe place for him to return to.

“More coffee?” Lost in his own thoughts, he hadn’t noticed the woman he’d previously been watching come round the bar armed with coffee pot. He jumped a little, but then smiled up in bemusement at the person stood next to him and slipped a bookmark back into the book currently being held open for no reason. “Didn’t mean to scare ya,” the person said, through what felt like a fake and overly thick American accent.   
“No, y-you didn’t, sorry… just in my own head.” Scanning over to the name badge, Giles read the name ‘Ali’ and committed it to memory. Despite having seen the staff member repeatedly, it felt anew seeing them here so close.   
“… So, coffee?”

“Um, yes, that would be – no! Sorry I’m drinking tea, thank you.”  
“Alright, fancy another pot?”   
“T-that would be great, actually.” Giles added, after tipping his cup toward him to find it empty.   
“Sure thing,” Ali replied, continuing to walk down the row of booths to fill anyone else’s cup who wanted before heading back round to make a pot of tea.   
She came back with it after a couple of minutes, gently placing it on the table in front of Giles and turning the handle toward him. “There ya go.” She declared with a triumphant voice, and Giles took a moment before looking in his acquaintance’s direction. “I hope you don’t mind me asking, but where does that accent of yours come from?” The question startled the waiter a little, who also took a moments contemplation before rapidly and unexpectedly sliding into the booth seat opposite Giles.

“That bad, hmm?”   
“To an Englishman… yes. Very.” Was the softest answer he felt he could give. There was a moment of silence that made Giles feel as if he’d said the wrong thing, despite for all intents and purposes being correct. “How long have you been in the States?”  
“Long enough. At least in this job, if nothing else.” The accent fell away, leaving a very English, slightly Northern twang from what Giles could discern.   
“Maybe I wasn’t expecting to hear it from you.”   
“How do you mean?”   
“Perhaps… I had an ability to sense your English…-ness.” He said, lacking conviction, and causing the two to crack an uncertain smile at one another. In an unexpected move even for himself, he found himself more curious to learn about the strange English woman for some reason hiding herself or her identity. “Care to join me?” Ali seemed to take a moment, considering she was already there, and the relative emptiness of the diner, perhaps, before surging up to grab a mug and teaspoon from behind the bar and returning to Giles’ table.

“You’re here often, aren’t you?” Ali asked as she slid back onto the diner bench and poured herself a cup of tea from the pot.   
“I could say the same of you.”  
“Yes, but I work here.” The two exchanged a smirking smile.   
“I come here when I can – the odd lunch break, or-or after work.”   
“What do you do?”  
“I work as a librarian, at the high school.”   
“… And you finish at eight in the evening?”   
“… There’s a lot of books to categorise, alphabetise…” Giles adjusted his glasses as he spoke, not instilling the greatest confidence.  
“Right. Sorry, I don’t even think I caught your name.”  
“It’s Giles – urm, Rupert Giles.”   
“Good to properly meet you, Rupert Giles.”   
“Whereabouts in England are you from?”   
“North West.”  
“Ah, I spent some time there, during… to get away from certain things, let’s say. Manchester, and further.”   
“Oh, I’m from Lancaster originally. Not many people know that far up.”  
“Yes, I definitely spent some time up there. And to the Lake District, many a holiday.” A genuine smile beamed from Ali’s face, and Giles eased at the connection formed between the two.   
“Not the voice of a Mancunian though.”   
“Not quite, no. I lived in London mostly, studied in Oxford for a time.”  
“Ah, not one of the Bullingdon Club are we?”  
“No, my time was filled with... something else.” It wasn’t hard to see as the conversation continued how more and more questions would be rightfully raised by Giles’ answers, and curiosity arose between the two who had passed each other’s lives so often with little impact. “How did you get out here?” Giles asked, trying to move the conversation and suspicion away from himself.   
“… I flew on an aeroplane? Magical things, traversing the sky.”  
“I’m not quite sure that’s how they work.”   
“Study Aeronautics, by any chance?” Ali looked up over the top of her mug, and her glasses, same wry smile on her face as the librarian had dealt to her. He tried to form a sentence in retort, but open mouths turned to soft chuckles shared by both of them.

They stayed like this, joshing with one another, wiling the night away until the diner was due to close and Ali’s services were needed once more to clean down. A few hard glares from staff behind the bar, noticed more by Giles than the individual concerned due to having her back to them, as well as indirect calls to other patrons, caused him to purposefully mess with his bag next to him as a move to leave. Ali noticed, sighed, and smiled sweetly back at her companion. “Well, Giles. It was nice getting to know you. No doubt it won’t be long until I see you again?”  
“I should hope not.” He returned the kind expression, more reservedly perhaps, although he had taken to his new acquaintance. “And I very much enjoyed this evening too.” The two enjoyed a moment of sweet silence, and then stood to head out. Giles, not really sure of how to end the conversation, placed his hand out to Ali once he had stood. Following a moment of confusion, Ali downed the rest of her mug of tea and grinned back at him, taking his hand. “Safe journey home.”  
“The same to you.” With that Ali swung back round behind the counter to begin the duties of closing the diner, and Giles headed out of the building with a wistful joy plastered on his face.

Over the next few weeks, they would continue like this; Giles would visit the diner during free time, when he knew his band of fighters were in a class, or after work when they weren’t on a hunt. Ali began to pay more attention to his order, and once Giles made a habit out of coming to the diner on Thursday evenings, she would start to have it ready for his arrival. A surprise at first, he looked up across the room and caught Ali’s glance, raising his eyebrows in appreciation. And, when she could, Ali would take her breaks with him, catching up about the latest additions to the library catalogue or deep conversations of philosophy and theology. The odd time, when Ali learnt that Giles would make appearances when she wasn’t there, she would purposefully walk by to see if he was visiting. Sometimes nose deep in his book, and she would walk on… sometimes seeming wistful and lonely at which point she would make the decision of whether to stop in or not. Every now and then, he would catch her walking by, and she would slow and wave. Then a long and complicated series of gestures would follow as to ascertain whether he wanted company or not. Most often than not she’d stop even for a few minutes or so if this was the case. It also became noticeable over time when he was exhausted, frustrated, lost or confused; Ali didn’t make anything of it, just made sure to be generous to him both behind the counter and in offering some company.

“Do you want to drop by the school some time?”   
“The school…”   
“The library.”   
“As in where you work?”  
“Mmmm.”  
“Why would I do that?”   
“Urm… Uh… I don’t really know.” Giles scoffed, laughing at his own proposition. “I have some friends, that… you might like to meet. Gosh, that sounds weird, doesn’t it?” To calm the spiralling track mind of the librarian, Ali placed her hands around one of Giles’ and look directly into his eyes. “I can come, if you want me to be there.”  
“That’s not what I meant.”   
“No, sorry, that’s not what I meant either. It’s not like I have a large social circle as it is, and any friend of yours is most likely a good person too.” The slight awkwardness that had threatened to rear its head settled into a quiet understanding, and they continued to sit enjoying the company of the other. “So, tell me of these friends.”  
“Well, most of them are students. Buffy, Xander, Willow…”   
“Do you teach?”   
“No- well, sort of. Not classes. I’m a different kind of teacher.”   
“I suppose librarians are teachers, that was insensitive.” Realising how close he was to explaining his role as Watcher he said little, allowing Ali to cover the gap herself whilst berating him for almost being so foolish. “Got some keen scholars then. Knowledge is power.”   
“I suppose you could say that, yes.”  
“Sounds like we’ll get on swimmingly!”


	2. The Scoobies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time for Ali to meet the Scoobies - but will a perfectly normal human fit in with the slaying, hunting heroes?

A few days later, Giles turned up at the diner for a lunch break, and as Ali had the afternoon off she joined the librarian in a stroll back toward the school. Approaching the grounds caused a wave of teenage anxiety to ripple over Ali unexpectedly, and yet perfectly reasonably given the environment she was about to re-enter. Almost instinctively Giles felt the change and slowed on the path up to the front entrance, turning to his companion. “Everything alright?”  
“Yes, I, um… school wasn’t the easiest for me.”  
“It isn’t far to the library inside, and-and we’ll walk quickly.”  
Breathing a slow, controlled exhale, Ali pulled at the straps of her backpack and muttered “Okay.” before the librarian took the lead and they walked together into the building. She shuffled through the corridors, head down despite the apparent lack of people and following the sight of the brogues shifting in front of her. Soon enough, Giles dipped to the right of the corridor and open swung a door. Glancing up slightly Ali saw Giles was holding it there, the expression on his face showing anxiety which dipped to concern upon catching the young woman’s emotion. She took a number of quicker steps into the room before slowing up and breathing deep as if entering a whole new place. With that she looked across the expanse of the hexagonal opening, the rows of bookshelves that lined the raised and lower levels, and the table that sat directly in front around which three people sat. A homely feeling fell over her, the smell of the bound texts and the warm light of desk lamps reminding her of many a late night spent in such an establishment.

“We bringing in strays, now?” A floppy haired, plaid-shirt wearer seemed to look across the room with a level of disdain and confusion, whilst the other two took to their feet and awaited an explanation.  
“Thank you Xander, I’m glad we treat our new acquaintances with grace and kind. This is Ali.” A shy wave from the self-conscious stranger answered none of their queries about why this person had been brought into this space, so they continued to look on with incredulity. “Ali, this is:  
“Buffy,” a blonde-haired person to the left of the table gave a similarly muted wave in return;  
“Willow,” across the table, someone with long ginger hair crinkled the corners of their eyes and mouth in a still uncertain smile;  
“… and you’ve, erm, a-already met Xander.” Xander pulled a more obvious, grimacing smile which was hard to pin down as directed to Giles or Ali. Or both.  
“Nice to meet you all.” Ali responded, shortly and sweetly, and showing a smile as honest as she could whilst hiding the mounting tension which rose in her body. She hoped the shakes she was beginning to feel weren’t perceptible, and held her arms in front, left hand holding her right wrist to attempt to regain some control. The others in the room were a number of years younger than her – this was a high school after all – which was both a blessing and a curse. Yet it brought up further questions about how on earth they’d come to know an admittedly dusty librarian, despite his good nature.  
“So, how was school?”  
“You have never once asked us that question; _please_ don’t make a habit out of it.” Buffy’s face screwed into an uncomfortable pain.  
“… Yes, I-I guess I haven’t. Well, how’s the research going then?”  
“… Are you sure we should be talking about that now, Giles?”  
“I’ve explained that we study theology and mythology here, it’s perfectly fine. Find anything interesting?”

Even though long discussions had been held with Giles in their previous encounters, Ali struggled to keep up with the conversation. References were made to demonic traditions, rituals and things she remembered Giles mentioning but with the panic she was under, plus the speed at which they moved through it, most of the details washed over her. Kerana, the ‘Golden Sabbath’, a ‘Trickster of Ages’ who undertook trials of strength and stamina… that was about all she could pick out without any of it making real sense. Then the conversation moved to an area of familiarity, and she tuned back in.  
“The demon is known for keeping its victims alive, inserting long proboscises into the host’s arteries which travel up to the Circle of Willis in an effort to maintain blood supply to the brain whilst it drains the remainder of the blood volume.” Giles read aloud.  
“Up to the what? A circle?”  
“Well that’s not very descriptive.”  
“It’s an anatomical landmark.” Ali piped up, loud enough to hear but only just, and taking steady steps into the room as an attempt to contribute at least something. “An anastomosis of blood vessels that come up from the neck and branch off into all the arteries that supply the brain.” Complete silence ruled over the room as she continued to explain. “The brain’s the most oxygen hungry organ of the body. It needs a large blood supply which comes up the neck through the vertebral and internal carotid arteries. Underneath the brain, these connect and branch off into a number of arteries supplying the tissue. Sorry, you don’t need that much information, but if your aim was to continue supplying the brain tissue with blood, thereby keeping someone alive you’d concentrate at the main branching off point.” Whilst Giles looked on now somewhat amused, the others continued not to commit one way or another, and Ali’s attention was taken by Buffy crossing the room to meet her. 

Ali felt surveyed up and down as Buffy took time assessing the stranger in the room, trying to make a valid judgement before beginning questioning.  
“Do you have a job?”  
“Yeah, I work at the diner on Fenchurch Street.”  
“Been there for long?”  
“No, I got here about eight months ago. They happened to be hiring, I happened to be looking.” Ali had learnt from Giles that maybe the fake accent wasn’t the strongest way to go anymore.  
“What do you want to do?”  
“I’m not sure, something in healthcare I think. I studied Biomedical Science at university.”  
“Hence the knowhow.”  
“I don’t know much, but I do know some neuroanatomy.”  
“You’ve graduated?”  
“Mmm hmm. I recognise it helps that I was lucky enough to live in a place where you don’t have to pay. Well, other than living costs.”  
“Must have been tough to get in.”  
“Yeah. I got some brains handed down from my parents.” Ali smiled cheekily at the young woman stood in front of her, but it took a moment to translate to the seventeen year old American. “Any further interrogation required, Buffy?” The two women, years different in age but not much in height looked at each other until the younger one smiled her response knowingly, and walked away up towards her Watcher.

“Know anything about demons?” Buffy called as she walked back over to the table.  
“Not really, sorry. It isn’t standard in the UK biomedical curriculum, at least.”  
“Lesson number one: they’re not great.” Xander added.  
“Ah, now you see _that_ I got from Common Sense class.” Ali quipped back, appreciating the vibe of the group and connecting where that cheek she’d seen from Giles was reinforced. “I do, however, have a few tricks up my sleeve…”  
“Oh really?” Buffy pushed. It wasn’t hard to sense that there was more at play here, and she reinvigorated Giles’ interest too at the prospect that there were things yet still to learn about her.  
“What sort of tricks?” Willow moved to a curious transfixion, wondering what would happen next. Using all the courage she could muster, Ali strode toward the table, slinging a bow laid there over her shoulder. She also grabbed an arrow quiver and then headed back across the room. Turning back to face them, she asked openly: “Give me a target.” A moment of silence fell as the audience made their decisions. Xander swung his rucksack round to in front of him and reached inside, but didn’t show what he was holding. Then, rapidly he lurched forward and out of his hand came an apple, making a beeline for Ali’s face. Dextrously Ali reacted, whipping the bow off her shoulder and an arrow into place, striking it right through the centre. As she fired the arrow, another item came flying in to her left; Buffy had thrown something too, and without the time to fully clock what it was Ali dove to the floor and shot upward, piercing a golden plate so it bounced upward, spinning like a child’s toy. Lastly, and perhaps for bravado rather than anything else, Ali flipped round into sitting and took out a light bulb from one of the desk lamps, causing the three teenagers to jump. Giles was already crouching in reaction to the first arrow being shot, and reflexively tightened when he heard the glass shatter. Ali’s face immediately fell realising that the last move had been a little bit over the top, and blurted “I’ll replace that! Sorry.”  
“Sharpshooter.” Buffy chirped, admiring their new acquaintance.  
“I do wonder sometimes how quickly you rub off on other people, Buffy,” Giles taunted, as he slowly got to his feet careful to survey the broken glass. Willow and Xander remained a little in shock, but were impressed nevertheless.

“Fancy a job?” Buffy asked Ali directly, as they crowded round a table in the Bronze. Wednesday nights were quiet, so they figured they could talk shop a little more publicly.  
“Does it pay?”  
“Not in the slightest.”  
“Then I might have to keep what I’ve got for now, but I’m up for hearing more about whatever operation you’re running out of a secondary school library. Sorry – high school.”  
“Ever seen a vampire?” Willow enquired.  
“Not that I remember, so I’m gonna say no.”  
“Weird teeth, ugly faces, usually wearing too much cologne than is human…” Xander clarified.  
“Sounds like a lot of people I know, but none of them were after my blood that I recall.” They all chuckled at that, and Ali took a sip of her drink as they looked between them. “What are you all up to then, stakes and garlic?”  
“What’s this got to do with the steakhouse?”  
“Oooo, Xander, that was a rough one even for you. You know exactly what I mean.”  
“You said you didn’t know anything?”  
“I’ve seen films though, you throw some holy water at them, threaten them with a cross and then jab them in the heart with a stake, right?”  
“There’s a bit more finesse than that.” Buffy cut in before Willow could say any more.  
“I can’t guarantee what I can offer, but I can shoot a bow and I know basic first aid. However far that gets you when tackling the undead.”  
“Further than us.” Willow huffed, resigned.  
“We’re all part of a team,” Buffy interjected, looking to Willow to ensure she wasn’t getting down, “and that’s the key thing we would need to know. That you’re a team player.”  
“Alright, sounds fair to me. I know my limitations and they are many, especially with all _this-_ ” Ali gestured in front of herself to the three others wildly, “but if you want another player, count me in.”  
“Well that’s that then. Welcome aboard, Ali.” Xander shook Ali’s hand in an overly-enthusiastic manner that made the other two’s eyes roll, but Ali grinned and returned it emphatically.  
“Good to be here, and in that case-” she downed the rest of her cold soft drink – “next one’s on me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is possibly the least smooth transition from a self-insert into main group of people, haaaaa - but I hope you like!


End file.
